Judge Refuses to Let Former CIA Spy Take European Vacation

Indicted CIA spook Kyle "Dusty" Foggo wants to get away for a little while, to travel with his wife and two kids on a five-week vacation to Austria this summer.

Unfortunately for the former CIA executive director, he has a couple dozen felony charges against him that remain unresolved, accusing him of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and making false statements.

So when Foggo asked U.S. District Judge James Cacheris of Virginia to give him back his passport and let him leave the country, the judge last week flat-out rejected him.

Not that Foggo's attorneys didn't try to make the case:

"Mr. Foggo has served the U.S. government with distinction for 23 years in
the Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA") and prior to his indictment had no criminal record."

(They added in a footnote, however, that "the details of nearly all aspects of Mr. Foggo's distinguished service to this country are classified, including honors and awards received.")

Prosecutors in the case opposed Foggo's request, noting the risk that the former spy could simply not return to stand trial in the U.S. He's currently out of jail on a $200,000 bond.

"There is no family emergency that necessitates his travel. ... Foggo acknowledges that the European vacation he wishes to take is strictly elective."

They also said the request seemed pricey, considering Foggo had claimed he was too poor to stand trial in the initial venue on the West Coast.

A five-week European vacation for Foggo and his entire family - especially given current foreign exchange rates - also seems inconsistent with Foggo's prior argument in favor of transferring this case from the Southern District of California, where Foggo maintained that he was too impoverished to try this (three-week) case.

A lot has changed since Foggo used to allegedly get free trips to Scotland and Hawaii, compliments of Brent Wilkes, the friend and contractor who got multimillion-dollar Iraq-related contracts with Foogo's help.